Potter Shorts
by Cursa
Summary: A compiled list of random short stories starring various characters in the Harry Potter series. Take place before, during, and after Harry’s years at Hogwarts, and not in any particular order. New Rating: K
1. Explanation

**Summery**: A compiled list of random short stories starring various characters in the Harry Potter series. Take place before, during, and after Harry's years at Hogwarts, but not in any particular order.

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Author's Note:** This started out as simply 'Hermione's Solution', but I kept getting new inspiration for other plot bunnies. So now, each chapter is a new short story. Most of these are thought up either in the shower, late at night when I'm trying to go to bed, or during one of the many lectures I attend during the week. Because of this, I have no control over what they are about or when an idea occurs to me; I have no idea when- or if I ever- will be done with these. Since Murphy's Law seems to hate me, the day after I decide to change the status from WIP to Complete, another short story force me to change it back, so chances are, I'm just going to leave it open ended.

If any of these shorts inspire you to take them any further, you have my permission to do so as long as you let me know in a review or something that that is what you are doing. After all, who am I to stomp on someone else's creativity? ; my only request is that you are literate in your writing, or I will hire elephants to do the stomping and finish it off by dumping a Blue Whale on your head.

**Author's Challenge**: Google 'simplypotterific' and pick the first result. There, you will find a series of fan-comics made by fanfiction author Kt Shy as well as a link to one of her stories. I don't know about the story, but the comics are hilarious. If I had the time, I would totally make my shorts into comics. Unfortunately, I would, but I cant, so I didn't, so if you would, could you please do?


	2. Hermione's Solution

**Summery:** Hermione's obsession with books has finally gotten out of hand . . .

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

Any of the lines below feel familiar to you? That's because they are. I took them directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, Chapter 18: Dumbledore's Army. As far as I can tell, this is the only chapter where I'll be quoting directly from the book.

**Time Period:** Harry's fifth year

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 1: Hermione's Solution

Part 1: _Lumos_

"Dobby said to walk past this bit of wall three times, concentrating hard on what we need."

Hermione nodded affirmative and they began pacing. _We need books…_ She thought._ Lots of books, where we can learn even more than what Harry knows… Stuff Umbrage won't teach us…_

On the third pass, she stopped short and looked at the wall expectantly. While the other two kept walking, she saw a highly polished door appear on the wall in front of her.

"Harry," she called sharply, making him wheel around.

Together they entered the Room of Requirement and immediately Hermione's eyes fell on the walls lined with wooden bookcases. Moving to the one closest to them, she started reading titles. Ron mentioned something about stunning, and she had to agree with him.

"And just look at these books!" she exclaimed. "_A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions… The Dark Arts Outsmarted… Self-Defensive Spellwork_…wow…" She was willing to bet anything that all of the books in the room were on their topic of choice. They had so much to learn!

Hermione beamed at Harry. "Harry, this is wonderful, there's everything we need here!" Unable to contain her excitement, she slid Jinxes for the Jinxed off it's shelf and folded into the nearest cushion to begin reading it.

Completely taken in by the book, Hermione didn't resurface until everyone had arrived and Harry had shut the door. Wishing she could take them all back to her dorm with her, she regretfully marked her page and put the book down, knowing she would be learning just as valuable information in the real world.

#

"Hey, Harry," Hermione called across the room, "have you checked the time?"

Harry glanced down at his watch and quickly blew his coaching whistle.

"Well, that was pretty good," he told the congregation, "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

Hermione tuned out as Quidditch was mentioned, and looked through the bodies, spotting Collin Creevey and his little brother. The bookworm was suddenly struck with an idea.

Moving discreetly through the crowed queuing up to leave in threes and fours, she stopped beside them. "Hey, Collin. Could I use your camera?"

While the crowed slowly dissipated, Hermione selected the top ten books she wanted to read of that tiny section, and pulled them off the shelf. Snapping pictures of each, she stealthily returned them and handed the camera back to the eldest Creevey.

"I'll pay you a knut a piece to get those developed in the Animation Potion," Hermione muttered to them.

The brothers exchanged surprised looks. "Uh, okay."

#

Part 2: addiction

"Did you do it?" Hermione asked, slipping next to Collin during breakfast a few days later. She would have waited for them to contact her, but she was too eager.

"Yeah," the Creevey answered, casually handing her a folder.

Squealing, the fifth year hugged the younger boy and dashed away. The next day, she returned to the twins, beaming.

"I'll pay you a sicle if I can borrow your camera for the next week," she told him, barely able to contain her excitement.

"… Sure?"

For the next week, Hermione spent all of her free time sneaking off to the Room of Requirements, snapping a picture of each book before putting it back on the shelf. Harry and Ron didn't question it; they assumed she was off at the library. And she was, in a manner of speaking.

"Hermione," Harry said in surprise when he showed up to prepare the room for another meeting and instead found it not-so-empty, "you're here early."

Hermione, who was positively surrounded by piles and piles of unphotographed books, did her best to look innocent. "Uh, yeah. Just doing a little bit of reading, you know." She laughed a little nervously.

At breakfast the next morning, she slammed the camera determinedly on the table. "A knut each, same as last time," she told them with authority. "And I would like to pay for another week of your camera time." The brothers nodded silently, each wearing a look of utter bewilderment.

#

Part 3: Supplier

Hermione sat on her bed, an entire pillowcase full of pictures. Everyone else was down in the Great Hall having breakfast- a perfect time for her to start sorting them all.

On the back of each picture, she carefully wrote the title of the book, the author's name, and the date it was published, and gently slipped them one by one in her memories box. In alphabetical order, naturally.

Now for her to start figuring out how to quickly find the one she was looking for. Taking out her wand, Hermione tried a spell.

"Acio a picture of the book_ The Dark Arts Outsmarted!_" Much to her delight, the picture in question rose from the box and flew toward her.

Hermione couldn't help but giggle maniacally to herself. Now all she had to do is put a water-repellant charm on all of them, and they would be ready to read at the dinner table. But, of course, she mustn't forget to continue visiting the Room of Requirements and the Library to continue taking pictures.

By now, it had gotten to the point where she would go to the Creeveys, who she had long before started thinking of as her supplier, and give them a full camera and some coins in exchange for a bag of freshly-dunked pictures and the promise of more developed pictures on the way. Even Ron and Harry were beginning to notice.

"Hermione, what are you doing with all of these pictures?" Harry asked one day, while an exchange was made right in front of him. "You're paying for all of these to be developed, but I never see you do anything with them."

"Don't worry about it, Harry," she told him cheerfully. "I'm going to run out of money pretty soon, here."

#

Part 4: Market

When Harry and Ron went down to the Common Room one morning, they immediately spotted Hermione coming from the girl's dormitories and joined up with her.

"Something's different about you," Ron commented to the prefect, watching her walk with a bounce in every step. "What happened to all of the books you always carry around?"

"I don't need them anymore," Hermione answered as they entered the Great Hall and sat down at the end of the long house table. After serving herself up a plate of eggs and pancakes, she dug in her bag and pulled out one of the pictures, staring avidly at it while she ate.

Harry blinked across the table at her. What was she looking at? Exchanging a look with Ron, the two of them put down their forks and circled around to look over her shoulder. There in the picture was the unmistakable image of Hermione's hand turning the page of _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_.

"Are you reading a picture you took of a book?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Hermione confirmed excitedly. "They take up much less room than the original- I'm carrying over 75 books with me right now! Best of all, I can read them while in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Umbrage would never be the wiser!"

Harry's eyes lit up at those words. "Brilliant! We could do spell research right under the old bat's nose! Hermione, do you think you have enough to pass out to the entire DA?"

"Only the one's I've already read," Hermione snapped, her eyes leaving the picture momentarily to glare at Harry. "And the DA would have to rent them. I need more gold so I can make more pictures. I've only photographed 1/25 of the Library, I'd like to get at least 1/5 of it done by the Christmas break!"

"I think we could help you with that," said George as the two took Harry and Ron's place on the other side of the table.

"Extendable Ears," the other twin explained, answering the unasked question of how they had overheard what the trio had been talking about.

George explained their offer. "You give us the pictures you've already used, we'll rent them out and develop the pictures you take for free. At the end of the year, you can have them back as well as 15 per cent of the earnings."

"We'll even throw in an unbreakable breaking charm on each photo for free!" Fred added.

"Agreed," she answered happily.

#

Part 5: Intervention

Students filed into Potions class, Harry and Ron taking a seat in the back and looking for Hermione through the crowd.

"She wasn't at breakfast. Do you think something happened to her?" Ron whispered to Harry as Snape swept into the classroom.

"Mr. Weasly, Mr. Potter, you have been called to the infirmary. Apparently, Mrs. Granger has managed to nearly kill herself in her sleep. The rest of you, get to work on the potions listed on the bored," the professor ordered.

The two looked at each other once before grabbing their things and dashing out of the room at full sprint and bursting into the hospital room where Hermione was recovering.

"What happened?" Harry demanded of the mediwitch.

"She'll be fine, Mr. Potter," the woman answered. "From what Professor McGonagle was able to piece together, she fell asleep reading and large piles of pictures barried her sometime during the night. With a little rest, she will be good as new. You may visit with her for ten minutes, then you boys need to get back to class."

The two nodded innocently until the madam had left then approached the bed.

"Hermione," Harry started, "you have to stop with the pictures. We understand what you are trying to do, but that is what libraries and the Room of Requirement is for."

Hermione sighed. "I suppose. After being stuck under a pile of them all night, I have sort of lost my enthusiasm." She smiled. "Besides, we can keep them in the Room, and the DA can read them during DADA class, or bring some home for summer reading…"

Ron shook his head. "Hermione, you're obsessed."


	3. Luna's Apparation

**Summery:** Luna has always been a bit odd…

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** Harry's seventh year

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 2: Luna's Apperation

Luna gazed around the Great Hall in mild interest. Instead of the house tables, the floor was taken up by hula-hoops. The students each took their position next to a hoop and the instructor began talking about the three D's. All the while, Luna was off in her own world, humming to music only she could hear.

When the people around her started moving, she drew herself out of it to see what they were doing and watched impassively as they spun on their heel in an attempt to apparate. Gazing at the hula-hoop next to her, she was at a loss as to how anyone could concentrate on the circle enough to apparate there. After all, there was nothing what-so-ever interesting or attention grabbing about the hoop and teenagers had a hard enough time concentrating the way it was.

Taking out her wand, the girl summoned her favorite Crumple-Horned Snorkak plushie into the center of the hoop before slipping it back into her pocket. Using the three D's she had barely paid attention to, she twisted on the spot, felt the constricting sensation of a successful disapperation, and apparated to the exact center of the hoop where she calmly picked up her plushie and sat down, watching everyone else as they struggled with the task. In her benign state of mind, she completely missed the gaping mouth of the instructor, who had seen the whole thing.


	4. Harry's Solution

**Summery:** Harry picks a different spot to host the DA

**Rated:** K+

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** Harry's fifth year

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 3: Harry's Solution

By the time Harry had arrived at the place the DA had agreed to meet, everyone was already there.

"Where've you been, mate?" Ron asked irritably. "We've been here for 10 minutes."

"I was getting last-minute supplies out of the Room of Requirements," Harry replied, shifting the weight of the book bag on his shoulder and pushing through the crowed.

"So," George said with a grin, "are you going to tell us why you asked us to meet in a girl's bathroom?"

Harry looked at his friends. "You haven't told them yet?"

Ron, Ginny, and Hermione grinned. "It's your surprise so we thought we'd let you tell them," Hermione said.

Harry shrugged and addressed the group. "We wont be staying here. This was simply our meeting place. Once we reach the secured location, I will fill everyone in."

As everyone started talking excitedly, a ghost swept down in front of their leader.

"Hullo Myrtle," Harry greeted, turning away from the sink to face the transparent being. "Is Dobby here?"

"Yes," Myrtle answered sweetly, batting her eyelashes and turning her head to show off her best side.

"Here is Dobby, Harry Potter, Sir!" squeaked the elf, appearing at Harry's side suddenly.

"Excellent. You two know what to do- keep an eye out for Umbridge and the Slytherins and warn us if they are coming."

The two nodded and Harry turned back to the sink.

"_Open_," he hissed quietly, smiling slightly as the group suddenly fell silent with shock as the sink slid away to reveal a dark, steeply sloping tunnel.

"One person can go down at a time every three seconds. Once you reach the bottom, move out of the way to make room for the others coming down behind you," Harry instructed them, motioning Ron forward because he had done it before.

Closely following her brother, Ginny gulped noticeably as she neared the entrance.

"Are you going to be okay?" Harry asked her quietly. He had forewarned her where they were going so it wouldn't be so much of a shock to her, seeing as what had happened the last time she had been in the Chamber below.

Ginny nodded bravely and pushed off.

Harry stood by the entrance to help everyone sit down and brought up the rear once everyone else had gone. By the time he slid smoothly onto his feet, all of the torches had been lit so he could see the expectant faces gazing at him.

"Welcome to the Chamber of Secretes," he announced, unable to hold back a grin at some of the looks he had earned. "I know it's kinda crowded in here, so if you would follow me to the main chamber, I can answer your questions and we can begin."

Heads turned, watching him as he moved through the group and started off down a corridor before following behind nervously, looking around with open curiosity all the while.

The trio had spent several hours in the last week down here cleaning up the place and discovering what the chamber was capable of. They had banished the rodent bones, boulders and snake skin, transfigured the rotting basilisk body into a brick, lined the rooms with torches to light the way, and moved supplies from the room of requirement to the main room where they would be practicing spells. Every day, they would discover a new room or some other ability the Chamber had, but the one thing they knew for sure was that, because of his parselmouth, Harry had complete control over all it as long as he knew what to say.

Everyone came to a halt when Harry did, in front of a large door with stone snakes on it that looked almost alive. "_Open_," Harry hissed again, his voice echoing in the silence that made the opening door almost thunderous as it moved.

Inside, it was completely dark as the group filed in.

"_Lights_," he hissed and immediately the torches sprung to life, revealing the room where he had fought the basilisk three years previous. In the back of the room was a statue of the giant snake with a sword through its mouth, but scattered around the floor were enough beanbag chairs for all of them to sit on. Pillows and matrices lined the walls, ready for use.

Once everyone had taken a seat, Harry began, "Alright, well, since I am the only one in the school who can get in here, I figured this would be the safest spot to have our meetings. Before each session, we will all meet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and come down here to practice. Anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah, I have a question," Neville asked. "What is with the giant snake behind us?"

"I'm not quite sure," Harry admitted. "After we moved the basilisk remains, it was just there the next time we came down, so we figured we'd leave it."

"Blimey, so you fought that thing by yourself? It's huge!"

Collin Creevy raised his hand as if he were in class. "Why are you the only one who can get in here?" he asked.

"Well, the chamber seems to only respond to parseltongue. We wont have to drag out the mats when we start because the Chamber will do it for us when I ask it to."

"What about if someone faked parseltongue? We all heard what you said to get in here, so couldn't we imitate it to get in?"

"Ron already tried that," Harry replied with a shrug. "But no matter how much random hissing and spitting he did, I couldn't understand him. And if I couldn't, neither could the Chamber." He looked thoughtful. "Though, he did get close a few times when he tried to mimic me; I suppose if he worked at it, he would eventually get it, but it would take a while." He shrugged it off and looked around at all of them. "Right, then. Are we ready to start?"

Hermione raised her hand. "I think we should decide on a name to call ourselves."


	5. Michael's Solution

**Summery:** After hearing the wonders of Neverland from the book Peter Pan, Draco decides to run away from home and go live with the Lost Boys

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Warnings: **This is the one short that has actually made me laugh out loud so far, instead of just snicker silently at my desk. This means that the humor is rather cynical. Poor Draco is put into a situation that, in all other circumstances, would not be funny, but in this case… you decide. Also, an infamous guest star appears in this fic.

**Time Period:** 5-6 years before Harry attends Hogwarts

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 4: Michael's Solution

Five-year-old Draco Malfoy's eyes teared up as he flung himself onto his bed with a huff. Everything was changing lately- his mummy would no longer read him bed time stories, his daddy he had to start '_acting like a Malfoy_', and even his godfather no longer let him ride his toy broom in the house when he visited.

'_It's all part of growing up,_' his mother had told him. '_You are five, now, and you need to start learning how to behave like a big boy_.'

Well Draco had had enough. He didn't _want_ to be a 'big boy', he wanted to continue riding his broom inside on rainy days, and jump in puddles, and be read to when he wasn't tired.

_I wont grow up_, he decided with a smile._ I will run away from home like Peter Pan did, and go live in Neverland forever with Tinker Bell, and Wendy, and the Lost Boys_!

Filled with a new determination, Draco quickly packed a run-away bag containing his dragon plushie, toy wand, and blankie, and tip-toed to his door to peek outside and see if anyone was coming. Seeing as he had just been sent to his room for not eating dinner properly, he doubted his mummy and daddy would want to see him out in the hallway anytime soon.

Seeing no one, he sneaked into his daddy's study and, standing on a chair to reach the mantle, grabbed a handful of floo powder. Stepping into the green flames, he cried out, "Neverland!" setting off 10 different wards of Malfoy Manor as he left.

* * *

Draco tumbled out of the floo, somersaulting and landing in a puff of undignified soot in the living room of Neverland.

_This doesn't look like Neverland,_ he thought, gazing around the room. _Where are all of the pirates, and Indians, and Lost Boys?_

Just as this thought had formed, a tall man entered the room. He had dark hair, wore a white glove on one hand, and looked like he had just escaped from Azkaban, in Draco's opinion.

The tall man smiled down at Draco and said in a strange accent, "Hello, there, little boy. Would you like some ice cream?"

Draco hesitated. This clearly was not Neverland so perhaps he should try again, but on the other hand, ice cream did sound yummy. Nodding slowly, he climbed up off the floor and, taking the tall man's hand, followed him into the kitchen.

* * *

Michael Jackson smiled to himself, leading the young boy into the next room. What a hassle it had been to connect his fireplace to the Wizarding Floo Network, but it was times like this he congratulated himself of renaming his new pad Neverland…


	6. Sirius's Solution

**Summery:** Sirius has finally found a way to remove his mother's portrait.

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** Harry's fifth year

**Author's Note:** It's officially business as usual here at Potter Shorts- the rating's back down, and it's back to the stupid humor I dream up in my imaginary spare time.

Potter Shorts

~Cursa

Chapter 5: Sirius's Solution

_Dear Harry,_

_I would love to take you on a trip this Spring Break, perhaps to Egypt or Australia, but seeing as I'm a convicted murderer, Dumbledore said that wouldn't be the best idea. So instead, we will have to settle with clearing HQ of all of the unpleasantness my loving mother left behind. I've already removed and burned her portrait (Hah! I knew I'd find a way around that permanent sticking charm!) as well as several of the other portraits in the house. _

_I've even added in a new doorway. Can't wait for you to see how it looks,_

_Snuffles_

Harry folded the letter for the third time during the train ride, and put it back in his pocket, puzzling over how Sirius had beaten the charm.

"Hermione, how do you beat a permanent sticking charm?" Harry asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Hermione frowned. "You can't. That's why it has 'permanent' in its name. Why?"

"Sirius said he had found a way and I was having trouble figuring out how."

"Oh," her brow furrowed in thought. After a few minutes, she put out a hand. "Let me see the letter." After scanning its contents, she shook her head. "The only thing I can think of is acid, but that's a muggle remedy and very dangerous. I guess we'll have to see when we get there."

######

The trio stared at the place where Mrs. Black's portrait used to hang. Sirius had done some remodeling in their absence. Instead of taking down the portrait, he had cut around it and used magic to turn it into a portal leading to the kitchen.

"That's one way to do it," Hermione admitted.


	7. Dumbledore's Will

**Author's Note:** I'm sorry for the repost, for those of you who have this tagged for an email alert. The change I truly wanted to call attention to was the fact that I made Chapter 5: Voldemort's Investment into it's own short story and replaced it with Michael's Solution, if anyone wants to check it out. Thank you.

**Summery:** Dumbledore has a different way to hide his will to Harry.

**Rated:** T

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** Harry's seventh year

Potter Shorts

~Cursa

Chapter 6: Dumbledore's Will

Harry blinked, still clutching the snitch. "Professor Dumbledore left me something else in his will?" he asked blankly. "What is it?"

"We're still trying to figure it out," the minister admitted. "We were actually hoping you could tell us." As he talked, he pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the teen.

Harry opened it and read it's contents in bewilderment.

_Hiss, splutter,_

_Spit, hiiiiiiisss, hiss, phlegm, splutter, hiss, hi~iss, spit._

_Hiss, Hiiiiss-iss._

"You're supposed to be the parselmouth. What does it say?" the minister asked.

Harry blinked at the letter again. "It's just hissing and spitting."

"Minister," Hermione piped up, "after we realized Harry was a parselmouth, I looked it up and parseltongue doesn't have a written language. The letter means nothing," she finished sadly.

Once Scrimgeour left, however, she turned eagerly to her friend. "Well, Harry, what's it say?"

Taking a deep breath, Harry read the letter to his friends. While it read nonsense, the act of reading out loud translated it to parseltongue in Harry's ears, making him laugh.

"Well?" Ron asked impatiently.

Grinning, Harry translated:

_Dear Harry,_

_I don't really have anything more to say than what was in my will. I just wanted to keep the minister busy for a while with a nice mystery to draw him away from your and your friend's gifts. I'll be seeing you, my boy._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_


	8. Sev's Haven

**Summery:** After a full day of class and avoiding the Marauders, Severus visits the Room of Requirements to relax

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** 20+ years before Harry attends Hogwarts

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 7: Sev's Haven

Severus shuffled through the door that appeared before him, shutting it firmly behind him and throwing his book bag in the corner of the room before keeling over backwards and forcing the room to supply a beanbag chair for him to land on.

It had been a long, difficult day. Three meals in the Great Hall, Three classes to attend, a study break during which he finished his homework for the next two weeks, an hour of studying for finals, and a full two hours spent avoiding the Marauders who had taken to a spot of "Snivillus Scourging". He felt he deserved some time to relax.

Sev sat in the chair, enjoying the peace and quiet for a few minutes. Between his father at home, the Marauders at school, and his concerns over Dumbledore the Headmaster and Voldemort the Dark Lord, it was rare he felt he had some control over his life. It made him saver these moments in the Room of Requirement even more so then he had when he first found it.

With a sigh of happiness, he hoisted himself out of the chair, which disappeared, and looked around the empty room. What should he do first?

A caldron appeared before him and he considered it a moment before shaking his head, making it disappear. He didn't feel like brewing today. A couple of days ago he and Lily had a huge row and he didn't think they would recover from it. For that, he needed something special.

Something whistled by his head, and turning, he saw a dozen or so dueling disks fill the air at eye level, inviting him to destroy them as he saw fit. He made them disappear with a shake of his head.

He stood pondering for a few more seconds before feeling something invisible nudge his hand like a dog begging for attention. Sev smiled. Perfect.

Lifting up a foot, he felt the room provide an invisible platform on which to set it. With a grin, he took off, climbing a non-existent staircase, sliding down invisible slides; whatever way he decided to move, be it up, down, left, or right, the room provided the means to do so.

Sev vaulted over nothing, setting his hand nowhere for support, swung through thin air, and rested three meters off the ground when he got tired. For a grand finally, he climbed to the ceiling, and jumped, freefalling to the ground.

Just before he was going to hit the stone floor, the Room provided Hogwarts' one and only hidden swimming pool for him to plunge into. With a gasp of air, he surfaced again and swam to the edge to climb out.

Though the liquid in the pool was water, it had a quality unique to any water he had come across outside of this room; it wasn't wet.

Severus hated being wet, and avoided showers whenever he could, preferring instead to use spells to take care of his personal hygiene. The Room, however, stopped the water from sticking to him, therefore preventing the wet feeling from occurring. It stood to reason that it was only here, in this Room, that he truly enjoyed swimming.

Straitening his robes, he walked over to his book bag, picking it up and slipping out the door. _Until next time_, he promised.

**Author's Note**: I'm going to have somewhat of a contest. Somewhere in this chapter, there is a quote from StarKidPotter's "A Very Potter Musical" on YouTube. The first person to review for this chapter, and tell me what the quote is, can decide what the next chapter is about out of the five Potter Shorts I already have planned, but haven't written yet. XP Lame? Maybe, but I'm bored


	9. Harry's Boggart

**Summery:** Why does having a Dementor as a boggart mean that Harry's greatest fear is fear?

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was 3:00 in the morning when I thought this up.

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Second Disclaimer:** There is a TV show guest star in this short. Sadly, I don't own him, or the show [tear]

**Time Period:** Harry's third year

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 8: Harry's Boggart

Harry watched as his friends battled the boggart under Professor Lupin's supervision, searching his mind for what he feared most. His first thought had, of course, been Voldemort, but he quickly dismissed that for an image of the Dementor he met on the train. After giving it some thought, though, he realized that it wasn't the Dementor he was afraid of, but resulting fear, but how in the world was that going to visually manifest?

Still not prepared, he stepped up to take his turn, and before Lupin had a chance to interfere, the boggart landed in front of him and changed, leaving behind a puff of smoke that everyone had to wait to clear to see what it had changed into.

Lupin was clearly tense, and his fellow classmates leaned forward eagerly to see what Harry Potter was afraid of. When the smoke finally cleared…

"What the bloody hell is that thing?"

"Aw- it's so cute!"

"Harry, why are you afraid of it? It looks downright harmless to me," Hermione said, clearly repressing the urge to step forward as that would make the boggart turn into something else.

Harry blinked. "I'm not." And indeed he wasn't. The thing was about as tall as a house elf. Its head was almost teacup shaped with a little antenna sticking out of the center on top. It had metallic skin, glowing blue eyes, and- even he had to admit- an adorable little tongue sticking out of its lipless face. It had a body in the shape of a muggle pill, thin, metallic arms, and cone-shaped legs. Indeed, it was odd looking, but certainly not terrifying, especially when it quivered fearfully and shrunk back. Even Neville was smiling at it.

Suddenly, the thing gave a large, excited grin and waved enthusiastically at them, before going back to looking petrified at their presence.

"I think," the professor whispered, staring at the unusual creature in awe, "that is its natural form."

Hermione's eyes widened. "But Professor! No one knows what a boggart truly looks like- it changes into what we fear most!"

Lupin nodded. "That's very true. Normally I would agree with you, Hermione, but it appears that what Harry fears most is fear itself. Seeing as he fears nothing in particular, the boggart was unable to fabricate a form that would symbolize his fear, and it was forced to take it's natural form."

The thing- whatever you wanted to call its true form- danced over to Harry and hugged his leg.

Lupin laughed, causing the boggart to cringe and hide behind Harry's leg for protection. "I believe you made yourself a new friend, Harry."

Harry looked down at the boggart and shook his head. "I don't understand. It's been trying to scare the living daylights out of us, and now it's cuddling up to me like a lost puppy."

Lupin opened his mouth to answer, but Hermione spoke first. "It's a defense mechanism. Boggarts like dark, quiet places. It's natural form is hardly threatening, and can easily make you want to laugh, which is it's weakness, so in order to defend itself, it transforms in to the thing that will be most likely terrify you into running away, leaving it unharmed and able to maintain it's hiding spot. But this boggart has been faced with you, who, according to Professor Lupin, has only the boggart to fear. Without anything to change into, it has resumed its natural form and is, as a last-ditch effort, attempting to save itself from what it considers to be a threat by snuggling up to the person who doesn't fear it any form…" She trailed off as she saw the class, and the professor staring at her with their mouths hanging open.

"Excellent insight, Hermione!" Lupin said after taking a moment to shut his mouth. "Thirty five points to Gryffindor, and fifty points for Harry, as he has given us the rare opportunity to further study the boggart!"

Harry looked down at the creature in question doubtfully, which was now nuzzling his knee happily and purring in contentment. _This is stranger than my Parseltongue, _he thought to himself as the boggart turned green with happiness and more closely resembled a very cute, non-threatening dog.

**Author's Note:** For those of you who didn't catch it, and for those of you who were able to guess, but want confirmation, yes, the boggart's true form is Gir XD He was the cutest, funniest thing I could think of, and now every time I watch Invader Zim, I giggle at the imagery XP

A quick reminder, I've moved some chapters around and added one to take the place of a chapter I turned into its own story, so please be sure to check previous chapters for a name you don't recognize and therefore haven't read yet (in particular, chapter 5) ^^


	10. Harry's Death

**Summery:** Harry finds that a wizard's death isn't all it's cracked up to be.

**Rated:** K

**Author's Note:** My excuse- it was … late, okay?

**Disclaimer:** No professional writer in their right mind would think up a short story at 3:00 in the morning for a series they already completed. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling. Donations de la pity are appreciated XP

**Time Period:** Harry's would-be seventh year

Potter Shorts

Cursa

Chapter 9: Harry's Death

"Avada Kadavra!" and the last thing Harry saw was a flash of green light…

_I'm dead,_ Harry thought just before he noticed light coming through his eyelids. Opening his eyes, he found himself laying down, looking up at Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Harry."

"Professor," he started, sitting up. "Where am I? I thought I-"

"Died? Indeed, you are correct- you are dead… sort of."

"Wha-" Harry stopped, catching sight of several people behind Dumbledore. "Sirius? Dad? Mum?"

Lily Potter smiled, tears in her eyes. "Hello, Harry."

Dumbledore's words caught up to Harry, and he jerked his gaze back to the older man. "What do you mean 'sort of'?"

Before Dumbledore could open his mouth to answer, Sirius did it for him. "Death is on vacation." *

Harry stared at him. "Pardon?"

Lily shook her head at Sirius' poor explanation. "Magic can't actually take a life," she explained. "It can heal, and even torture-"

Sirius broke in again, "-and you'd be surprised what you can live through-"**

"-but you cant die from it," Lily finished. "Anyone who 'dies' by magic is sent here- in limbo."

Harry stared uncomprehendingly at the four of them.

"Harry," Dumbledore stepped in, "didn't you ever wonder what happened to the bodies on the battle field?"

The teen nodded slowly. "I always thought someone put a spell on the ground to keep it clear during the fighting…"

Dumbledore nodded. "Understandable. However, everyone who 'died' was sent here and healed of any injuries they suffered from." 

"But why-"

"People cant die by magic," Dumbledore continued, "but it would be unreasonable for them to keep coming back to continue fighting- no one would ever win if that were the case. Therefore, anyone who dies by magic, before or during a war is sent here until the war is settled. Once the war is won, no matter who the victor is, everyone who disappeared comes back. No one who died is allowed to fight, or restart the war they died in; they have to accept whoever won as the new law. Until the next war, of course."

"So…" Harry said slowly, "I'm stuck here until the fighting stops? But why didn't it stop immediately after I died, since I'm the 'chosen one'?"

Dumbledore smiled. "You always seem to get strait to the heart of the problem. You see, your connection with Voldemort has given you a- what do muggles call it- an 'extra life'. Since you are a Horcrux, it is the Horcrux Voldemort killed, not you. You are merely here until everything is sorted out."

Harry looked at his parents and Sirius. "Then I'm going back," he said sadly, more to himself than anyone else.

Sirius grinned. "We'll be right behind you, kiddo."

Dumbledore was watching the youngest Potter intently. "Ah, there it starts. You'll be heading back in a few more minutes."

"Hang on a second- if you cant die by the Avada Kadavra, why is it an Unforgivable, then?" Harry asked.

"It is considered unforgivable to send someone into limbo, no matter how long they are there for," Lily explained. "In the worst case scenario, they outlive their family and friends who died of old age, returning years later at the end of the next war." 

"Almost there," Dumbledore told him, looking over his left shoulder.

Harry turned his head to see what the man was staring at, and to his shock, saw a sort of Tom Riddle ghost slowly separating itself from him.

"What about Voldemort?" he asked.

"Voldemort's Horcrux allow him to live forever in the way he intended. If his body is killed, he is sent to limbo until he can come back. If his body dies of old age, which would take more than a century, his next Horcrux can take his place as the true him and he can continue on with life."

Harry looked back over to the ghost Voldemort, who had only half an arm to separate from him. "What will happen to him once the war is over?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I am unsure. The best I am able to guess is that he will return to Tom who will then put him in a different object to make him a Horcrux once again."

The ghost's last finger separated from his, and everything went dark. When he opened his eyes, it was to see Narcissa Malfoy checking to see if he was really dead.

######

"_Expeliarmus_!" and the last thing Harry saw of Voldemort was a look of denial before he disappeared.

_Did we win?_ Harry wondered, looking around. There was a full half minute in which nothing happened, and then hundreds, if not thousands of men, women and children appeared on the Hogwarts' lawn.

A grin on his face, Harry went out to find his friends, Sirius, and his parents.

* This is a reference to a book I once read. Naturally, I cant remember the name, but it sticks out in my mind because after one of the 3 main characters was fatally injured (and supposedly died instantly), it turns out she was fine. Why? Because Death decided she was tired of being feared, so she went on strike. And since the grim reaper was on strike, no one could die. I think there was a Family Guy episode that was similar to this…

** This is a quote from Aladdin: Return of Jafar

**Author's Note**: Hmm. A little too happy-ever-after, but what can I do; the thing wrote itself. I hope my explanation made sense. It was sort of a half-baked idea I had while reading a different fic, and I had to write it down. I might go back and edit this in the future. Please feel free to ask questions, or tell me how well I got my idea across ^^


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